The following is a reflection that Sr. Jean Anne Zappa gave at the feast day Mass of St. Angela Merici on Monday, January 27, 2025.

Genesis 12:1- 3; 1 Peter 4: 8-11; Mark 6: 7-13

I don’t know if you have seen the website for the pilgrimage to Rome for the Jubilee year. You can buy a special hat, water bottle, shirt, or backpack if you decide to go to Rome for the pilgrimage—external preparations, to be sure. As we know, most importantly, a pilgrimage calls for interior preparations.

A pilgrimage is not a destination place, a tour, or sightseeing; rather, it is a call to personal transformation—to grow in faith, to become a better disciple, to grow more deeply in faith and hope. A pilgrimage could be a grace moment of God calling us to a deeper relationship of love with God and others for inner conversion. And we don’t have to go anywhere for that to happen.

I believe it is a gift for us, followers of Angela, that the 2025 Jubilee pilgrimage to Rome is also the 500th anniversary of St. Angela’s pilgrimage to Rome and the 490th anniversary of the founding of the Company of St. Ursula.

This Jubilee year’s theme is “Pilgrims of Hope,” and there must be a readiness of the heart, or attributes, to engage in a pilgrimage. Attributes of a meaningful journey or pilgrimage are reflected in the readings for today’s Mass: first, listen to and respond to the call from God, have an open heart, be prepared to let go, travel to unfamiliar places, and trust and have hope in God; second, live with compassion and hospitality, be open to grace to grow deeper in relationship and action; and third, take only what you need, let go of what may get in the way, build community and peace wherever you go, and proclaim the good news.

For Abraham, there was a deep call from God to leave what is comfortable and then to trust and be hopeful even in an unfamiliar situation. It is written that the year before Angela went on her pilgrimage to the Holy Land, she lost her sight while on a seafaring journey to the Holy Land. Her deep trust in God allowed her to continue her pilgrimage, for she had to let go of her expectations and had to see with her heart and eyes of faith and hope of what God was revealing to her.

It was in Rome in 1525 when she encountered Pope Clement, and he wanted her to stay and minister in Rome; yet her call from God was too deep, and unlike Abraham, she returned to her homeland and found her deep commitment to God in Brescia, where she ministered and founded the Company of St. Ursula in 1535—490 years ago.

In the letter of St. Peter, we hear other attributes of a pilgrim—one must be disciplined, living with compassion, and being hospitable, not complaining, being receptive of God’s grace and relying on God’s strength along the way, and being of service to others. There are several places in Angela’s writings where she tells us to live the same way. It is a call of conversion and transformation, relying on God’s grace and fidelity.

Finally, as in Mark’s message, a pilgrim is not to take much, just the essentials; don’t be distracted or weighed down, be detached from what may get in the way of your relationship with God and others. Most importantly, as Jesus challenges his disciples, proclaim the good news by your life.

Now, most of us will not have the opportunity to go to Rome and join the many pilgrims for the Jubilee year. However, each of us has our own personal pilgrimage with God in our life’s journeys. We need to be open to God’s call, to trust, to let go, to be welcoming and hospitable, to be open to God’s grace, and to proclaim the good news. In our personal pilgrimages, we could be led to be witnesses of hope that leads us to conversion of heart.

A pilgrimage is not only journeying to a sacred place; it could also be a sacred moment.

Along the way, we may meet folks on their pilgrimage where they need to have hope and trust and call upon God’s strength: the woman who journeys to the cancer center for her treatments, the homeless person who walks the streets looking for assistance, the pilgrimage of a caregiver caring for the terminally ill loved one, the one who journeys in an experience of grief or loneliness, or the unknown pilgrimage of immigrant families looking for safety.

How many times have we been invited to walk with someone on their pilgrimage and felt helpless to respond? How are we called to accompany and respond to someone on their pilgrimage? As the second reading says, hopefully with love, compassion, and hospitality and relying on God’s grace.

Be it our own pilgrimage or being with another on their pilgrimage, we are called to be transformed interiorly, to be witnesses of hope that transforms even the most difficult of situations. As a true pilgrim, we rely on God’s grace, be open to what comes into our lives, and allow God to open our hearts to be true disciples of the good news in the spirit of hope and love. As we enter our pilgrimage and Holy Year of 2025, let us remember St. Angela’s words: “Have hope and keep up your courage.”